Thanks to the US Open
by Enhael
Summary: Fuji has become a professional photographer. When he's hired to cover the U.S. Open, he runs into a few familiar faces... Thrill Pair. A rewrite of "Return to the U.S. Open"
1. Chapter 1

Title: Thanks to the U.S. Open

Author: Enhael

Pairings: Thrill Pair

Disclaimer: I still don't own Prince of Tennis

Warnings: OOC, Shonen-Ai

Summary: Fuji has become a professional photographer. When he's hired to cover the U.S. Open, he runs into a few familiar faces... Thrill Pair

A/N: This is a rewrite of Return to the U.S. Open. It has the same basic plot and a lot of characters will return, but it will (hopefully) be an improvement.

KEY

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

_Flashbacks (when centered)_

**Thanks to the U.S. Open:**

We Were Reunited

Enhael

The second he saw his boss's smile, he knew he should have called in sick. Sure it was just a cold. Sure it wouldn't hinder his work whatsoever. Sure there was really no need to stay home. But that smile screamed "danger".

Fight or flight instincts kicked in. He turned on his heel and was about to make a run for it when his boss's voice – dangerously soft – stopped him in his tracks.

"Syusuke Fuji. Where do you think you're going?"

Fuji turned around slowly, almost nervous to face his boss. _How far have I fallen? Didn't _I _used to be the one to strike fear into everyone's heart and mind by a mere look?_

"...Home?" Even he had to admit that his attempt at faking a coughing fit was pitiful.

"Right." Her gaze was skeptical. "You'd better be healthy by tonight."

Realizing there was no way around whatever was happening tonight, Fuji scooted a pile of photographs to the side of his desk before settling himself in their former place. He may as well be comfortable while listening to tonight's activities. His boss raised an eyebrow at the empty office chair before waiting for Fuji's to prompt her.

"Why? What's going on tonight?" Fuji finally asked, pushing himself backwards a bit to make room for his crossed legs.

"Well, you know that the U.S. Open is coming up, right?" Fuji nodded slowly. "Well, you're being assigned as the official guide and photographer of a participant." She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the serenely smiling man. "I see the photography part – you're the best we have – but I don't know about the guide part. Do you even know enough about New York to show this guy around?"

"I'll be fine," Fuji assured her. "But what does that have to do with tonight?"

"We're picking the participant up from the airport at 7:30," was the curt answer. "Pick me up around 6:40, alright?"

"You're coming with?" Fuji was a bit surprised. He had been under the impression that it would be just him that night.

"Yup. I've heard he's handsome." Her devilish grin faded to a thoughtful expression. "Supposedly he has a bad attitude, though." She turned and strode to the door. She paused with her hand on the doorknob and glanced over her shoulder. "If you're late, I'll fire you."

Fuji waited until the door had closed behind her before he dropped the smile and let out a humorless chuckle. "Is that even legal?"

* * *

"So, Kathy," Fuji began.

"It's Ms. Freeweather to you, Fuji!" his boss interrupted, irritation obvious in her voice.

"Hai, hai. Sorry," Fuji apologized, accidentally slipping into his native tongue.

"English, Fuji!" she snapped, folding her arms. "And what is it?"

Fuji sighed and fiddled with some settings on his camera. Kathy had been even more irritable than usual on the drive to the airport. Apparently she wasn't about to calm down any time soon despite them arriving at the airport safe and sound. This would be a long night.

"I asked you what you wanted, Fuji," the uptight woman reminded him with a glare, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Ah, right. Who are we meeting? You never told me." He had asked the same question in the car only to receive a glare and a shaky-sounding "later" from his pale-faced boss. Apparently his "accidental" reckless driving had unsettled her. Or at least her stomach. _Call it payback for the earlier threat_, he thought wickedly.

"Echi-something."

Fuji froze, nearly dropping his new camera, eyes wide and smile nonexistent. _No. This is bad. If it's him... I don't want to see him again. Not until I've forgotten!_

"Was the name...Echizen?" Fuji knew his voice was shaking. He knew, but for once in his life, he didn't care that he was showing emotions he would rather keep hidden. "As in Ryoma Echizen?"

"Ah! That was it!" Kathy's eyes narrowed. "How did you know?"

Fuji said nothing, but began to make his way closer to the gate once more. It was an automatic action. His body was currently on autopilot as his brain was elsewhere.

He wasn't ready for this. He had spent the past six years trying to forget that day – trying to forget Echizen's reaction to those three simple words.

"_I like you."_

Those three simple words had earned him a single one in return. One word – only five letters – that had shattered his heart.

"_Right..."_

Echizen's sarcasm. The scathing look he gave him. That he had reminded him that they'd be late for practice if they didn't get a move on. That he had left immediately after the reminder.

Fuji hadn't showed up at practice for the rest of high school.

No. He refused to dwell on the past. There was no point in moping. He forced his fake smile to widen. What had happened was unfortunate but it wasn't the end of the world.

_Just the end of _my _world._

"Fuji, get your camera ready! People are coming out of the plane!"

"R-right..." Fuji returned to fumbling with his camera, keeping one eye on the passengers emerging from the gate. He only looked up fully when Kathy squealed in a rather uncharacteristic way.

"He _is _handsome!"

And indeed he was.

Echizen's emerald hair was a couple of inches longer than he remembered it being in junior high. He now stood about eye level with Fuji – maybe even a centimeter or two taller. His tanned skin was unblemished and unburnt despite the many days Echizen must have practiced outside. His lips were delicate and pink and oh so desireables.

But his _eyes_.

There had always been a flame that burned deep inside those pools of liquid gold. Now it was more like a raging inferno of determination. And when those eyes swept regally across the terminal, Fuji couldn't help but be drawn to that fire.

Gone was the adorable middle school tennis star. Before Fuji stood a handsome young professional – one that he was sure he would fall in love with all over again.

And that scared Fuji Syusuke to no end.

* * *

Enhael's Comments:

I've decided that I'll do my best to get one chapter out every week. If that won't work out, I'll push back the time to a release every other week.

And wow, that had a businesslike tone to it ^^;;

Ja ne~!


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Thanks to the U.S. Open:

Author: Enhael

Pairings: Thrill Pair

Disclaimer: I still don't own Prince of Tennis.

Warnings: OOC, Shonen-Ai

Summary: Fuji has become a professional photographer. When he's hired to cover the U.S. Open, he runs into a few familiar faces... Thrill Pair

A/N: Hey guys~! Thanks so much for the lovely comments/reviews~! They really surprised me. But in a good way ^^

By the way, is it "senpai" or "sempai"?

REPLIES:

CoffeeTea: Thank you ^^ And yes, I probably should have made it a bit longer. This chapter is a bit longer than chapter one, but I'm not really good at making chapters that long...

OvercomingMountains: I'm glad you like it~

animelover4ever69: Hehe, thank you ^^

yullenXneko-chans: -blush- I feel as if you think to highly of me~ Not that I'm complaining xD And, yes, I think this one's better, too.

BadGuz: Thank you~! I'm glad that I'm improving ^^

Ruthaer: You're welcome, and thank you ^^ I kinda like this one better, too~

sasodei-iz-awesome: I'm glad you're excited~ Yes, poor Fuji... But as I said once, I can be cruel to the characters I love.

Liz: Hehe, I'm glad to hear that you like it ^^ I like it more, too xD I'm happy to write this again, too. I missed it~

hwap: Thank you~ I hope you like the new chapter, too!

KEY

"Talking – English"

"_Talking – Japanese_"

_Thoughts or emphasis_

_Flashbacks (when centered)_

**Thanks to the U.S. Open:**

We Were Acting Normal

Enhael

Maybe he wouldn't recognize him. Maybe he would act least pretend not to recognize him. All Fuji's hopes were mercilessly squashed the moment he saw golden eyes widen and delicate lips part.

"What's he staring at?" Kathy hissed, nudging Fuji in the ribs. Hard. "He's coming over here. Why is he doing that? I'm not ready yet!"

_My sentiments exactly..._ Fuji thought miserably, rubbing his new sore spot. His heart leapt to his throat as Echizen neared him.

"_Fuji-sempai_?" Fuji fidgeted under Echizen's scrutinizing gaze. "_Seriously_?"

"_Is that so hard to believe, Echizen_?" Fuji forced himself to stay calm. The rubbing was now a comfort thing.

"_...what's wrong with your side?_" Echizen narrowed his eyes. "_Will it affect your tennis? I wanna play a game_."

_Typical Echizen greeting_. Fuji's smile gained a whole lot of sincerity. _But how should I answer that?_

"Fuji! What are you waiting for? Take a photo! And speak in English, will you?"

Fuji winced at his boss's screech. _Well, at least that got me out of the whole tennis thing._

Fuji offered Kathy an apologetic smile. She returned the favor with a deep scowl.

"Sorry, sorry." Fuji switched to English.

"Who's this? Your girlfriend?"

"No!" Fuji and Kathy paled at the very thought.

Echizen raised an eyebrow at the twin horrified response.

"Who is she, then?"

"I'm Fuji's boss, Kathy Freeweather." Her voice was sweet and her eyelashes fluttered. Fuji felt like he would throw up. "You must be Echizen. I've heard that you're the best of the best!"

Now it was compliments. Forget throwing up – Fuji was going to faint. He raised a hand to her forehead, a solemn look on his face.

"What?" Kathy snapped, pushing his hand away.

"No fever. Then what is it?" Fuji asked in mock worry.

"Fuji..." growled Kathy. "Do you _want _to be fired?"

"It's illegal to fire me for such a trivial thing," Fuji said cheerily.

"Oh? _Someone's _become bold all of a sudden, eh?" Her tone was low and threatening. "And I could always find a loophole, you know."

Fuji blinked. She was right. This was the first time he had opposed her outside of his mind. The first time he had said something so cheeky to his boss. Weird. He cast an unnoticeable glance in Echizen's direction. The professional tennis player looked rather miffed. Most likely due to being left out of the conversation.

_Tezuka told me something similar to Kathy once_.

"_You've become more obvious with your sadism, Fuji."_

_And then Eiji said something, too... _Fuji struggled to recall the rest of the memory.

_Eiji, who had been passing by at the time, decided to put his two cents in. _

"_He's right, nya. Ever since Ochibi joined us, actually." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned mischievously. "Suspicious, Fujiko. Very suspicious!"_

That was right. That had been the day that Fuji had realized Eiji knew of his crush on Echizen. At that time, Fuji had been so focused on the fact that Eiji had found out about his affections towards the boy that he hadn't really paid much attention to the actual words Eiji had spoken. Until now, that is.

_Now that I think about it, Eiji was right. I've always been more...me around Echizen_, Fuji realized. _Even now. I wouldn't have even thought about talking back to Kathy before. But the second Echizen came I find myself saying what I think...showing my emotions. It's truly frightening_.

He shuddered and tuned back in to Kathy and Echizen's argument.

Wait, _what?_

"Fuji-sempai is _always _like that." Echizen sounded annoyed as he folded his arms.

"Him? No way," Kathy snorted. "He's usually so docile and has _never_ said such a thing before! It's so _weird!_"

"Fuji-sempai is always weird," Echizen shot back. "It's what makes him who he is."

Fuji wasn't sure how he felt about that statement. If he should be flattered that Echizen could say such a true (yet harsh) thing about him so confidently or if he should be offended that he had been called weird. Ever the optimist, he settled for the former.

"I'm happy you know so much about me, Echizen," he said cheerily. "Why don't we get your bags now, eh?"

"Sure." Echizen joined Fuji on their way to the baggage claim.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me! And what's with the 'sempai'? What's it mean?" Kathy called after the two, struggling to keep up in her high heels.

Sighing, Fuji slowed his pace so his boss could keep up. The way this conversation was going could lead into some very dangerous waters. He caught Echizen's questioning look and shook his head, hoping the younger man would get the message. That he didn't want to talk about it right now. Luckily, Echizen decided to ignore Kathy completely. He did match Fuji's speed, however.

* * *

It took the better part of five days for Echizen to get over his jet lag. During that time he was too groggy and fatigued to do much other than eat, sleep, and have a couple of small conversations with Fuji – most of which were just one to two minute phone calls exchanging your usual "hello" and "how are you" along with the rare pleasantry.

The two were getting along much better than Fuji had originally thought they would. He had been sure that Echizen would ignore his existence or at least not willingly chat with him. Instead, the day Echizen had arrived, he had pretty much demanded that the two exchange cell phone numbers – much to Kathy's resentment. The tennis player had even called Fuji twice. He was being...friendly.

Needless to say, Fuji was perplexed. Until he came to the only conclusion he could think of during the five days that Echizen was getting used to New York's time zone.

Echizen had forgotten his confession.

Fuji had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, now Echizen was talking to him again. On the other, he realized that it must have not been important enough to stick in Echizen's mind.

"Fuji-sempai!"

Fuji nearly dropped his cell phone at Echizen's sudden yell. Nearly, but not quite. He still had some control over hiding his emotions.

"No need to yell, Echizen," Fuji said, holding the phone to his other ear. The one that didn't feel as if the eardrum had exploded.

"You didn't answer my question." Echizen's scowl was obvious in his voice. "Yes or no?"

"It sounds perfectly fine to me." Fuji answered demurely, wondering what he was agreeing to.

"Good. I'll see you at the hotel tennis courts in half an hour. Remember to bring your racquet." He sounded rather satisfied with himself. "See you."

"Wait, _what?_" But before Fuji could protest or ask for clarification, Echizen hung up.

Fuji stared at the phone in horror.

"What did I just get myself in to?"

* * *

Enhael Says:

Aaand, that was chapter 2. I hope you guys liked it~

Ryoma was being _friendly? _Scary, eh? And out of character. But he's matured and changed a bit over the years. It _has _been six years since the confession, ne?

On a side note, I have difficulties with chapter titles...

I'll try to make release dates either Friday or Saturday. Prolly Saturday, though.

Ja ne~!


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Thanks to the U.S. Open

Author: Enhael

Pairings: Thrill Pair

Disclaimer: I still don't own Prince of Tennis

Warnings: OOC, Shonen-Ai

Summary: Fuji has become a professional photographer. When he's hired to cover the U.S. Open, he runs into a few familiar faces... Thrill Pair

A/N: ...You all officially have permission to shoot me. I apologize profusely for taking this long to update... And when I finally do, it's not even long.

To bribe you to forgive me, I'll put up two chapters today. I don't know exactly when the second one will be up but I promise it will be before midnight (U.S. Central time) tonight!

KEY

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

_Flashbacks (when centered)_

**Thanks to the U.S. Open:**

We Were Competitive

Enhael

When Fuji arrived at the hotel's tennis courts, he was greeted with the _wonderful _sight of Kathy flirting shamelessly with a scowling Echizen. Fuji suddenly found it highly difficult to keep up his smile. _And what is _she_ doing here? _he grumbled. Inwardly, of course.

"Hello, Echizen," was Fuji's cheerful greeting. "And Kathy," he added, giving Echizen an inquiring look. Judging from the slight raise of Echizen's shoulder and the barely detectable twitch of an eyebrow, the other man also had no idea what Fuji's boss was doing there.

"That's Ms. Freeweather to you, Fuji." The sickeningly sweet tone she had been using earlier with Echizen mutated to one full of irritation when she noticed Fuji. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Fuji held out the racquet he hadn't the heart to throw away. "Playing tennis." _Unfortunately._

"With who?" Kathy made a big show of looking about the nearby tennis courts. Almost all were empty.

"Me."

Fuji would have laughed at the look of complete disbelief on Kathy's face if he didn't feel somewhat insulted.

"Fuji. Play tennis. Right," she scoffed and waved a hand in the air as if shooing away the very thought. "He _hates _tennis."

"Oh?" Echizen's golden gaze flickered to Fuji who merely smiled back.

_He's mad. _Suddenly a smirk crossed Echizen's face. _Don't tell me..._

"Fuji-senpai used to lovetennis."

_This should lead to a fun conversation._

Luckily for Fuji, a dapper old man approached the three before Kathy could ask any questions.

"Mr. Echizen, I have a question for you." Noticing Fuji and Kathy, he gave them a winning smile. Fuji offered him one in return. Kathy didn't bother to try and do the same. Fuji knew from experience that she hated to be interrupted. Undeterred, the man introduced himself as the hotel manager.

"What is it?" Echizen was scowling again and shifting from foot to foot, eyes locked on Fuji's racquet. He was obviously anxious to start the match.

"Could you do me a huge favor and allow for an audience? There appears to be a very interested crowd forming already and it's rather difficult to keep them away." He hesitated before rushing through his last words. "It also would be good for business."

"Whatever you want." Echizen then ignored the hotel manager's (at least Fuji assumed that was his position from his earlier words) immediate show of gratefulness in favor of turning to Fuji. "So...you hate tennis now?"

Fuji opened his mouth. But to say what, exactly? It's not like he could tell the truth. _"I don't exactly hate it. I just avoid it like the plague so that I wont have to think of you more than necessary." _Now wouldn't that go over wonderfully?

Once again he was saved from answering an unwelcome question, this time by Kathy.

"Oh, Ryoma! You talk to Fuji as if you've known him for years!" his boss fake-giggled, mood immediately changing once more. She had never been a fan of being ignored.

"He has." As much as Fuji wished to avoid this conversation, he was not about tolet Echizen get his answers from Kathy and vice versa. Sadly, this meant he had to partake in said conversation. That didn't mean he couldn't attempt to leave Kathy out of it, however. "Echizen, can we talk about this later?"

"No way." Echizen lifted his chin stubbornly.

_It was worth a try._

"So, you know Fuji." Both young men turned their eyes back to the irritated-looking Kathy. Fuji guessed that her irritation stemmed from her lack of information. "How?"

"He was my senpai on the tennis team."

"'Senpai' this, 'senpai' that. What does that even mean?" Kathy snapped, crossing her arms, not even bothering to keep up her "sweet" act.

…_Definitely from lack of information._

Wishing to evade Kathy's wrath so he could just get the dreaded conversation over with, Fuji immediately offered what he hoped was an easily understandable explanation.

"'Senpai' is basically a term for an upperclassman. In this case, 'senpai' would basically mean that I was on the tennis team before he was."

Kathy nodded slowly. "I see." She obviously didn't. "Well, whatever. Just because you were there first doesn't mean you were any good.

Although the close proximity nearly killed him, Fuji leaned over to Echizen and – in a whisper just loud enough for Kathy to hear – said "I'll bet you twenty dollars that she can't go half an hour without insulting me." He returned to his former position just in time to see Echizen smirk and stuff his hands into his pockets.

"That's insubordination, Fuji!" Kathy snarled.

Fuji's only response was a light laugh. This was good. If he kept Kathy angry, she would eventually drag him away to do made-up work or somehow "force" him to leave so she could make her move on an obviously uninterested Echizen. His hope met an untimely demise when Kathy's twisted expression changed to a deceptively serene smile.

She was mad. Fuji could even go so far as to say she was royally pissed off. She obviously wasn't very pleased with Fuji's "new" attitude and his little act of "insubordination" had just been the cherry on the cake.

"Fuji, _dearest_." Her voice was like poisoned honey, the sweetness masking the threat of death. "Why don't you just prove me wrong, then?"

Fuji inwardly cursed his idiocy. _So much for getting out of the match. At least I don't have to answer too many questions this way._

This was also going to prove to be an extremely painful defeat. Sure he had

Just a few moments, a couple of words, and one glare (courtesy of Echizen) later, the two of them were standing within a comfortable talking distance on opposite sides of the net, ignoring the many pairs of eyes watching their every move. Well it _was _a comfortable talking distance until Echizen decided to lean in quite a bit closer. Fuji did his best to keep his face neutral.

"Fuji-senpai."

"Yes?"

"Let's have a bet."

"A bet?" Fuji blinked. _Where is he going with this?_

"If I win – which I will – I get a favor from you. If you win – which you wont – you get the same." Ryoma's smirk nearly screamed danger.

"Sounds interesting." And it did. Although Fuji was pretty sure he couldn't win in his current state, a favor from Echizen was wonderful incentive to try. "Shall we begin?"

Ryoma smirked as he leaned away.

"If you're ready to lose."

Fuji merely smiled and lightly placed the tip of the head of his racquet on the ground. "Rough or smooth?"

"Smooth."

Fuji nodded and spun the racquet. It was smooth. _I wonder if he'll use the twist serve right off the bat? _"You serve, then, I suppose." He said it more for the benefit of the slowly growing crowd (and _maybe _Kathy) than anything else.

Echizen merely tipped his hat and trotted off to his service line. Fuji hesitated for a split second (_Do I really want to do this?_) before making his way to his own position.

And with a twist serve, the match began.

The final score was 7-5. Ryoma had just barely won with some new serve that Fuji had never seen before. But Fuji honestly didn't care. All that mattered was that he had just had the most satisfying tennis match of his life and _it had been with Ryoma. _He felt giddy.

So went Fuji's thoughts as he finally allowed himself to collapse in an ungraceful heap. The last ball slowly rolled past his hand as he propped himself up on his elbows. He noticed that Ryoma appeared to be in a similar state to his own.

"You owe me a favor," Ryoma said between pants, smirk still in place.

"That I do." Fuji had forgotten about their little bet. "What would you like me to do?"

"I want you to-"

"Ryoma!" Kathy interrupted, practically throwing herself on Echizen. "That was _amazing!_"

Ryoma scowled. Fuji attempted a weak laugh. With Kathy around he probably wouldn't be able to get his answer.

"If you want answers, you should just ask me." _Not that they__'ll__be__ truthful._

"Like you'll give me any," Echizen scoffed.

"Saa."

Strangely enough it had been Echizen that had initiated their nightly phone chat as Fuji had forgotten to call him. Fuji blamed exhaustion for for this; today had been a bit much, both emotionally and physically. That tennis match had done a number on him and then following Kathy and Echizen as the latter was given a tour of New York City, wondering what the favor would be...

Fuji blinked. Echizen had never told him, had he?

"Echizen, you never told me what your favor was."

Silence. Fuji was just thinking that he had been hung up on when Echizen spoke.

"I'll tell you later."

_You're kidding me._

"E~chi~zen~" Fuji drew out his name in a sing-song tone. "I don't think that's fair." Fuji knew that Echizen would pick up on the hint of a threat.

"...Good night, Fuji-senpai." _-click-_

Fuji stared incredulously at his cell phone.

_Did he just hang up on me?_

Enhael says:

Okay, so I have everything for this story planned out...except for how the two actually get together. I do have a few ideas but they all seem too cliché. If any of you have ideas I would love to hear them. If you don't, I can probably manage ^.^

Thanks in advance~

- Enhael.


End file.
